"Lightning Nature Transformation?" The old man was resting calmly on the couch. Hearing his grandson's question, he thought for a moment before extending his hand.
Chakra gathered in the old man's palm and transformed into lightning. Arcs of electricity crackled dangerously, both deadly and beautiful.
"This isn't ninjutsu—it lacks form, just pure chakra nature transformation. But why do you need it?"
"To create a technique," the teenager, who looked about thirteen, answered honestly. "Grandpa, how did you do that? I don't have enough control for my experiment."
"Lightning can be described as fast and paralyzing. That's what sets it apart from the ferocious Fire and the calm Water. These are the characteristics of the elements." The old man opened his palm, letting the lightning dance freely across his hand. "The key is to focus and clearly visualize what you want. Ninjutsu is will, chakra, and control. Will and your imagination play the most important role, while control is secondary. You shouldn't have any issues with chakra."
The teenager sank into thought.
"So, I need to precisely focus my chakra on what I want. But I don't have enough control to make Lightning obey me."
"Hah, grandson. It's simple—you're just misunderstanding your primary element. This isn't Wind, which needs to move in a specific order. Lightning, like its natural counterpart, moves completely chaotically."
It was as if a lightbulb went off in the boy's head.
"I think I get it."
After several attempts, the teenager's hand lit up, and it sounded like a thousand birds chirping in unison.
"Chidori!"
---
"Mito-chan, try this delicious mochi. I bought it recently from the sweetest woman."
"No."
"Mito-chan, try this buckwheat noodle. It's surprisingly hot today."
"No!"
"Mito-chan, try this wonderful water. It'll definitely refresh you."
"NO!"
And so on, round and round.
To me, the figure of Mito Uzumaki—the first jinchuriki, wife of the First Hokage, princess of the long-lived clan—was practically legendary. Having strength only slightly less than Hashirama's, facing the Nine-Tails and sealing it within herself—all of it commanded respect, especially knowing the level of mastery required to use such a seal.
But that's in the future. Right now, this little brat was playing the untouchable princess. She didn't like the place we lived, how we dressed, how we slept, or what we ate.
In short, complete chaos, and I wanted to tear my hair out.
After the Clan Head gave me this assignment, the first few days were fun watching little Mito. I'd seen her as an adult woman, after all.
We went to her house without obvious escorts, though, as Kotetsu said, we had three hidden escorts. She lived literally five minutes from the Clan Head's residence, in a huge house full of servants. I didn't like all the bowing and the servants' behavior, afraid to lift their heads. But you don't bring your rules to someone else's monastery—I learned that long ago. So, I stayed quiet and just observed.
As the Clan Head told us, Mito's parents weren't sitting back and would actively participate in the war that was about to start. So, we were to take the girl and bring her to our place—my old house with Akihiko. It was roughly in the center of the village and would be well-protected, according to the old man and the Clan Head, when we discussed the defense details. I didn't say anything about the secret escorts.
A few days after we moved in, she showed her true character. The spoiled girl was constantly dissatisfied. This wasn't right, that wasn't right.
Thankfully, Kotetsu took on the role of a maid and catered to all the whims of this little troublemaker. I would've spanked her by the second day if I weren't constantly at the training ground. Training water clones was proving difficult.
I had enough chakra and control. But something in my head couldn't genuinely believe that a copy of my figure could appear from water. So, I'd been struggling with it for a while.
And so the days passed as the Uzumaki fought this fishy clan.
---
Trying yet again:
"Water Release: Water Clone Technique."
A figure formed from the water. A few moments later, when the technique was supposed to solidify and take the form of my clone, it exploded into a spray of water.
"Damn it."
Another failure. Using a chakra release I'd learned from Kotetsu, I got rid of the excess water. Adding a bit of fire to this simple manipulation, I created a chakra dryer that rid me of the extra water.
This damn water clone technique had been eluding me for a while. Though with my chakra reserves, its potential was enormous. I could create several clones if needed and attack enemies with ninjutsu of different elements, combining my attacks. As the old man said, it was all in my head. Like my first attempts at ninjutsu, I couldn't believe in the power of my chakra. The whole problem was my rigid thinking, which I couldn't shake.
But now wasn't the time to give up. I still had plenty of chakra.
A few hours later, I decided to call it quits. I had half my chakra left—as the old man said, always keep chakra for a sudden fight. No luck with water clones today. But there was another recent success. After a month of attempts, Chidori came together, and now I had a high-level technique in my arsenal. Its penetrating power was great, and the chakra cost was low for me. I could use Chidori for two hours straight until I ran out of steam or enemies.
Walking back, I observed the deserted clan streets and thought about my goals.
The main goal, of course, was to gain strength and either kill or seal Zetsu. This intrigue-loving, ancient manipulator was the biggest thorn in my mind. Gaining strength was going well across all parameters. Comparing myself to the old man, I was about thirty percent of his level. For a ten-year-old boy training for five years, I considered that a solid achievement.
As for Zetsu, I had a few plans. Uzumaki fuin gave me time to figure out how to seal him. There was also the Totsuka Blade that Itachi used. I don't know where to find it, but I had a few decades before Zetsu started influencing Madara.
No matter how kind I might be, Madara, sadly, awaited the same fate as in the anime. The Rinnegan wasn't something to lose. I wasn't sure I could awaken the eyes of a god myself. I also didn't know if my genes would play a role or if it was about the spirit passed down through centuries to two opposites. Madara, after obtaining his enemy's tissue, awakened the Rinnegan over decades. Taking the eyes from a child would be easy. Though I wasn't sure if Nagato would appear in the Land of Rain. If Uzushio doesn't fall—and I'd make sure the people I know don't die—then the Uzumaki wouldn't scatter across the world. Neither Karin nor Nagato would be born on war-torn fields.
I'd just need to control everything. Preventing my clan's extinction and participating in creating the strongest village in the future was a good short-term goal. My connection to the Senju would help greatly with that.
And the ultimate goal of all this was to escape this world. Fuin and the Rinnegan should help me return to my world, to my children. I wasn't indifferent to this world's fate. But if I prevented Kaguya's revival, who else would destroy this world? Right?
---
Arriving home, washing up, and putting on casual clothes, I joined the dinner.
"What do we have here?" Kotetsu and Mito were waiting for me.
"Tonight, we have pork ramen, Master. Mito-chan expressed a desire for this dish and asked for a large portion."
Mito-chan blushed and glared at Kotetsu, who remained completely unfazed.
"Mito-chan, so someone fell in love with Kotetsu's ramen after trying it that one time?"
I smiled, watching the clan princess turn into a tomato.
"Okami! That's not true, she's lying! I didn't ask for anything! Hmph."
Looking at Kotetsu, who clearly showed who was lying, I didn't press the topic.
"Sure, sure. Now let's eat."
After a calm dinner, I decided to teach the girls a game. Things had been tense lately, and we needed a break from the war news. We'd already suffered our first losses, and it didn't sit well with me.
"Girls, look what I have." After the dishes were cleared, I pulled out a case containing wooden blocks. Yes, it was Jenga. Finding a carpenter and asking him to make wooden figures was easy, cheap, and quick. I was glad we'd play a familiar game I used to play with my kids.
"What's that, Master? / What's that, guard-chan?"
"First, it's Jenga. Second, Mito-chan, stop calling me 'guard.' Show some respect!"
Seeing no trace of agreement on her face, I sighed helplessly. She'd been coming up with nicknames for me for a while. Black-haired, half-breed, and recently she started calling me 'guard.' I wasn't offended, understanding she was hiding her worry for her parents this way.
Quickly explaining the rules, we started playing. It was fun watching Mito's eyes widen in surprise when she failed to pull out a piece and lost. I genuinely laughed at this little girl who got upset over losing. Kotetsu wasn't far behind me.
We played a dozen rounds, and I can confidently say I'm the absolute champion.
It was nice. It felt like I'd gone back to the past, when my family would gather and spend time together.
But everything comes to an end. So ended the peaceful time that lasted a few days.
---
After another round of the game, Mito and I were picking up the pieces. Kotetsu had gone to refill the teapot we'd emptied while playing.
Suddenly, bursting in with her Byakugan activated, Kotetsu shouted:
"Master, we're surrounded!" I leapt up, channeling chakra and activating my Sharingan.
"Who, how many, and from where, Kotetsu? And where are our escorts and the other clan members?"
The three observers were supposed to be nearby.
"I spotted a figure with gills on their neck. From the west and east, Master, a kilometer away, and they're closing the distance fast. I don't see our escorts—they've vanished. Same with other clan members. The whole area is clear."
In the distance, an explosion roared, as if someone had dropped a bomb. It seemed someone had distracted everyone, including our escorts, to get to us. This had to be a massive attack if they missed enemies infiltrating the clan. They couldn't know about us—we'd only been in the clan a few days—but they were heading toward us, meaning someone leaked information. A traitor in the clan? The only important reason to attack the clan and distract everyone, leaving us alone, was one thing: Mito.
"How many?" I asked Kotetsu. She looked into my eyes and said in a frightened voice:
"Thirty, Master, five hundred meters. I see two among them with chakra reserves equal to yours, Master. Three hundred meters."
"Damn it." Looking at Mito, whose eyes were filled with fear, I made a quick decision. In a flash, I was beside Mito; in the next, I struck her neck. Carefully, to knock her out. She'd be a distraction if she stayed conscious—who knows what might happen if she screamed. Stealth was critical now. In a direct fight, I couldn't take on so many opponents yet.
Looking at Kotetsu, I said:
"Listen, Kotetsu, I'll create a barrier to hide your chakra. It's not strong in terms of defense. Stay quiet and wait. And don't try to break out. Your task now is to protect Mito."
"But…"
"That's an order! Go, to my room."
Not giving her time to disobey—time we didn't have—I rushed her to my room. She bowed her head and carried Mito inside. Standing in the center, I quickly formed twenty hand seals.
"Seal."
Symbols spread across the room, concealing all chakra within. They were relatively safe now.
Now, I just had to win.
---
*Third-Person Perspective.*
Karasuchi was one of the most experienced and powerful shinobi of his clan. From childhood, enduring brutal training and killing his brothers, he quickly rose to high standing with the Clan Head and elders.
With the strength of thirty men and a wife watching his back, Karasuchi was confident in the success of any mission entrusted to him.
The war with the Uzumaki Clan was foolish and inevitably doomed to fail. Knowing the strength of the red-haired clan, Karasuchi was certain that even if they won, it would be a Pyrrhic victory. A weakened clan after the war would be devoured by the nearest neighbors. The resources gained—women and sealing knowledge—weren't worth sacrificing everything. But the Clan Head seemed obsessed. The elders thought he was under genjutsu, but after examining him and convincing him otherwise, they found nothing. The Head simply wanted to kill all adult Uzumaki and assimilate the rest into the clan. An ambitious goal, perhaps too ambitious.
Now, Karasuchi, having received a high-priority mission, arrived on the Uzumaki Clan's island. There were questions about how they'd bypass the barriers and, just as importantly, deal with the other shinobi in the clan. They knew there'd be a diversionary attack, but there was no answer for what to do with the hundreds of Uzumaki remaining in the clan.
But a surprise awaited them. A faceless mask appeared at the edge of the whirlpools, guided them through all the barriers, and silently pointed to the house where the target was. Someone from the Uzumaki had betrayed their own kin. What a pathetic situation for the clan, Karasuchi thought, that their own would betray them. But it didn't concern him—the politics of the red-haired clan. Their target was a princess they needed to kidnap. She'd be a valuable hostage…
Twilight descended on the clan, surrounded by houses of hewn wood, built in a traditional style with curved roofs and stone paths. The sky above was covered with thick clouds, hiding the moonlight, and rain began to drizzle, forming small puddles on the wooden walkways and dampening the dark streets. This was a place where every house could serve as both cover and a potential trap. In these conditions, Karasuchi and his squad moved.
Thirty shinobi, dressed in black attire with blue accents, their faces covered, carefully navigated among the buildings. They moved through the village, their goal clear: capture the princess hidden in one of the wooden houses, protected by only one opponent, according to the intelligence provided.
Everything was too quiet, and no one tried to flee from the house where the target was. Karasuchi signaled to his closest ally to merge with the other part of the squad and surround the house. Everything was done silently and discreetly.
The small Uzumaki figure remained invisible in his dark hiding spot. He was on the roof of one of the houses, his form barely visible among the shadows and pouring rain. His Sharingan glowed, allowing him to see through clothing and hidden enemy movements. He remained calm, watching as the enemies spread out and coordinated their attacks.
As water techniques began to form, crashing into the houses with force, Okami activated his lightning technique. Streaking bolts of lightning, nearly invisible in the darkness, struck the shinobi swiftly and precisely as they tried to approach the buildings. These lightning bolts, like invisible shadows, paralyzed them and forced them to struggle with their injuries and loss of coordination. Half of those who couldn't react were struck. The chain lightning was too powerful.
All these actions occurred in silence, broken only by explosions in the distance.
Among the thirty shinobi, two stood out, possessing chakra reserves equal to the princess's protector. These two were masters of kenjutsu, their movements deadly and precise. The first shinobi, wielding a katana, swiftly deflected the lightning attack, with only slight twitching in his hands betraying that he'd been hit. In the pouring rain that had recently started, lightning attacks had a powerful effect—simple physics, understood by both Okami and his enemies.
Meanwhile, the second shinobi, a woman with a katana drawn, attacked the previously hidden Okami. Her speed was so great that he didn't have time to blink before his head was supposed to be severed from his body. Unfortunately for her, it was an illusory clone.
"Clone! Spread out! Find him—this brat is close."
Speaking for the first time during the fight, the woman ordered the remaining fifteen assassins to locate the boy. No attention was paid to those who fell to the lightning technique. The dead couldn't be helped.
Okami concealed his chakra with a seal he'd learned from his grandfather. This seal could last for two hours. The fight had only been going for a minute.
Suddenly, a scream and a chirping sound, like a thousand birds, rang out. A ninja from the squad, who had strayed to the farthest part of the search area, was killed. Rushing to the body's location, they saw a corpse with a pierced heart. Karasuchi, exchanging a glance with his wife, ordered the others:
"Quickly attack the house with everything you've got. Flush out the rat before it kills us all from the shadows."
Okami was near his house when he heard the order. Channeling a third of his chakra, he managed to create a fuin barrier that concealed the entire house.
"Water Release: Water Sphere!"
"Water Release: Water Hail!"
"Water Release: Water Stakes!"
"Water Release: Water Bullets!"
All these techniques and more assaulted the barrier, which dimmed with each hit. Initially a golden barrier, it became pale yellow by the end and collapsed, protecting the house until the final attack. This was astonishing to Karasuchi, who had never encountered the Uzumaki before. But without time to think, he ordered:
"Again!"
As they prepared to unleash more techniques, they didn't notice a figure leaping from the sky.
"Fire Release: Fire Annihilation!"
Hearing the teenager's shout, the fifteen shinobi only had time to look up and release their hands before a wave of fire descended from the heavens.
An explosion roared.
---
Trying to catch my breath, I scanned the area where the explosion had occurred with my Sharingan. I had about ten percent of my chakra left after the attack. If I hadn't killed them all with that blast, I'd have enough for five minutes of active fighting.
Before I could inspect the bodies, I suddenly felt the breath of death at the back of my neck. On pure reflexes, I dodged a sword. Aiming for my head, it only sliced my left shoulder. Dangerous.
"Kid, you're no slouch. At your age, I couldn't do that. Blame the traitor among your own for your death."
The man was very tall and muscular. He had a distinctive "shark-like" appearance, with blue-gray skin. He also had small, round, white eyes, gill-like markings under his eyes, gills on his shoulders, and sharp, triangular teeth, grinning as he spoke of the traitor. In his hand was a katana matching its owner—larger than usual, definitely custom-made. If I didn't know better, I'd think I'd met Kisame, Itachi's partner. But this was likely his ancestor or some distant relative, a great-great-grandfather or something. The old man had already described our enemies' appearance.
"You too, shark-head, managed to survive where all your men fell. Good job. But I'm not dying today."
I noticed everyone else was dead except for another figure with a sword who had attacked my illusory clone. It wasn't hard to swap places and then use shunshin to leap aside.
"I see you're injured." His entire figure was covered in burns and scars from the fire, with only his pants remaining of his clothes. I'd put a lot of chakra into that attack.
"And you're not even scra—" Not letting him finish, I attacked with Chidori at maximum speed. I needed to kill him quickly.
Clang
The sound of a broken blade rang out as he tried to defend himself. Sharingan.
He made the mistake of looking into my eyes. Genjutsu.
Frozen, he became defenseless, and I took his head off.
Phew. I sat down next to the corpse and caught my breath. The woman who survived was somewhere in the rubble of the neighboring house. I didn't think about her condition—she was alive, though injured. I just enjoyed the rain, which brought cool relief after the fiery hell I'd unleashed.
After five minutes of rest, I heard Kotetsu and Mito.
"Master! / Idiot!"
It seemed they'd come out to check after a few minutes of silence. Fair enough. I didn't feel like moving. I stopped Kotetsu, who was about to start healing me.
"Kotetsu, hold on. Look over there." Her Byakugan was active. "Don't let that woman die. She has valuable information. I'm not that badly injured—just a scratch. You're personally responsible for ensuring she survives the night."
"Yes, Master!"
She left to heal the last survivor, leaving me and Mito alone. She glared at me angrily but stayed silent. I decided to speak first.
"Come on, Mito-chan, I won, and I'm barely hurt."
"Idiot! I see the blood, and you've got almost no chakra left!"
She shouted and turned away from me.
Ugh, you little onion.
I pulled her into a hug and simply said:
"It's alright, Mito. Everything's going to be alright now."
---